That Hygienist Made Me Bleed! Is That Normal?
When you get your teeth cleaned, it is not uncommon to have some bleeding occur. Your dental hygienist is getting diligently down under your gums. They are cleaning those areas that you can’t reach on your own. They are cleaning more deeply than the floss, and the brush do at home.
If you take blood thinner medication, you may see more bleeding as well. Over-the-counter aspirin and Ibuprofen stay in your system for about a week, so bleeding can happen more easily if you’ve taken either of those.
People who are extremely diligent with their home care, though, can experience dental cleanings with absolutely NO bleeding at all. I sometimes explain to my patients, who try to tell me, “Oh, I’m just a bleeder,” that I can “dig to CHINA” in some people’s mouths and still have no bleeding.
We truly can clean teeth with deeper pockets even and still see no bleeding. That is IF the patient is good with their “homework.”
There is definitely a genetic factor that plays into all of our dental health too. All it really means, though, is that some people need to be more diligent than others. Unfortunately, they’re just the cards that you were dealt.
Rest assured, though. It’s always possible to make your bleeding go away. Always.
You DON’T want to see bleeding when you are merely brushing or flossing at home.
If you ever see bleeding when you brush or floss, it means that you need to brush and floss MORE.
This means that YOU HAVE gingivitis or gum disease in that area.
But don’t worry, all it should take is brushing and flossing that area every day for one week to make that infection go away.
Be sure that you are brushing and flossing correctly, though, or you won’t be effective. We’ve spilled lots of SODA on these topics, so hop on over to those posts when you’re done here.
If you are sure that you are cleaning correctly and the bleeding still doesn’t go away in a week, you may need to get your teeth cleaned. You could have tartar built up in that area that needs to be removed.
Once you get your teeth cleaned and the tartar “barnacles” have been removed, continue your brushing and flossing for one week, and the bleeding should go away.
One last battle you may be fighting is dry mouth. People who breathe through their mouth tend to have more bleeding around their front teeth because that area is dried out much of the time.
The same goes for people who snore or wear a c-pap machine at night.
The same goes for runners, avid hikers, or people suffering from allergies or sinus issues.
Also, 90% of medications have dry mouth as a side effect. There’s more to unpack with chronic dry mouth, so be sure to read the SODA that we spilled for you on that.
You can add some mouthwash to help.
There are two types of mouthwash, made for two different purposes.
You’ll find either “anti-cavity” or “anti-gingivitis.”
Anti-gingivitis is the type that you are looking for in this case. You want the gingivitis to go away.
ACT Whitening mouthwash with Xylitol is a great option.
Though ACT is usually marketed and focused in the “anti-cavity” world, we still recommend this specific ACT mouthwash for gingivitis. The whitening agent it contains is hydrogen peroxide. As we all know, hydrogen peroxide is also helpful in healing our tissues and “boo-boos.” So, this mouthwash heals gingivitis, whitens your teeth, AND helps prevent cavities all at the same time!
Win, Win, Win!!! We hope they never stop making this one! You can find it in our Product Advice section here on the site.
Listerine is another good choice for bleeding too. Always has been. Gingivitis is their specialty. Just watch the alcohol content in it. When patients hold it in their mouths for too long, we have noticed that it can cause sloughing of the gum tissue. Swishing for 30 seconds, once or twice daily, is all you should need.
So, the final answer to this question is:
Though a little bit of bleeding during your dental cleanings is usually normal, a LOT of bleeding is not.
Make it your goal to minimize the bleeding and have ZERO bleeding while brushing and flossing at home.
You can do it!
We hope this helped answer some questions for you.
Though it would be best if we did, we’ll never claim to know it all, all of the time. NO ONE knows it all! We do claim honesty, though, and we sincerely want to help as many people as we can! Our patients have maintained beautifully, following our conservative recommendations :)
So, thanks so much for reading and letting us spill our SODA! Remember to take the time to find your HONEST DENTIST, and be sure to browse around our links and follow us on social media for answers to more of your exciting dental questions, like:
